Who we are, how we work, and the people who stand behind it.

Tom Brane

Tom serves as president of IMPACT West Africa. He graduated from Cincinnati Bible College in 1992 with a B.S. in Bible and Christian Education, where he met his wife, Suja. After three years in youth ministry and ten years teaching at Christ Centered School in Harrison, Ohio, he and Suja moved to West Africa in 2013. He teaches and trains individuals in Farming God's Way across West Africa, addressing both food insecurity and spiritual poverty.

Brian Smith

Brian serves as vice president of IMPACT West Africa. He graduated from Cincinnati Bible College with degrees in Bible and Missions in 1989 and served Traders Point Christian Church for fifteen years as Facilities Director and Missions Minister. In 2011 he founded Agristewards, splitting his time between Lamb Farms in Lebanon, Indiana and leading Farming God's Way trainings worldwide. He has taught agriculture from the Bible in twenty-six countries.

Dennis McDaniel

Dennis serves as treasurer of IMPACT West Africa. He brings more than forty years of accounting, financial management, and investor relations experience with large property-casualty insurance companies. He has served in various volunteer positions at White Oak Christian Church, including two decades as an elder. He and his wife Adele have supported the accounting and financial side of IMPACT West Africa since 2016.

Minta Berry

Minta serves as secretary of IMPACT West Africa. She holds an MBA from Xavier University. After thirty years owning a curriculum development and production company, she moved into international teaching. She spent nine years in West Africa teaching and mentoring Anna, Naomi, and Josiah, retiring in 2024, and continues to consult on their education.

Dean Heitkamp

Dean became a Christian at fifteen and graduated from Cincinnati Bible College in 1978. He spent twenty-five years in located ministry in Ohio, Georgia, Indiana, and Florida, and has stayed involved in church ministry and missions since. He and his wife Lisa attend LifeSpring Christian Church in Harrison, Ohio, and have four married children and twelve grandchildren.

Suja Brane

Suja grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, and spent three formative years in India, where her parents served as missionaries. After completing her family medicine residency at the University of Cincinnati, she practiced in Cincinnati for five years before beginning medical missions in West Africa in 2013. She has served in Burkina Faso, Mali, and now Senegal as a missionary with IMPACT, using medicine to demonstrate Christ’s love and bring healing to the whole person.

Our partners